


No Compromise

by Accidentallytechohazardous



Category: Bleach
Genre: Aftercare, Daddy Kink, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Porn with Feelings, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:40:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28119342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accidentallytechohazardous/pseuds/Accidentallytechohazardous
Summary: After mastering his bankai, Shuuhei uncovers a new-found confidence in himself that leaves everyone impressed. Renji is no exception, and finds that Shuuhei might be just the person to handle him.-That was what Renji finally learned. No matter what he did, who he was, they would always find a way to move the goalposts. If he was too crass, or too soft, or too rude, or too obedient, or too rebellious. There would always be something he was too much of. And it was a full-time job trying to keep everyone happy.Renji’s duty was to protect Soul Society. To serve his captain and his division. To protect his friends. When did he get to do something that’s just for himself?
Relationships: Abarai Renji/Hisagi Shuuhei
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	No Compromise

A lieutenants’ meeting was a concession. Captains were the most powerful people in Soul Society, yes, but often vice-captains were the ones who managed the day-to-day affairs of divisions, so their importance could not be overstated. 

So once a week, two meetings took place. In the captains’ meeting, the thirteen most influential and dangerous people in the world stood together in a large hall and argued with each other. And meanwhile across the first division hall in the lieutenants’ meeting, the vice-captains did the actual negotiations. 

Renji went through the motions, brought his stack of reports, and listened to everyone take turns talking about budgets and paperwork and whatever else greased the wheels of the pointless bullshit-bureaucracy machine. 

Izuru stood by the whiteboard and erased last week’s reservations for the training arenas. Rangiku took one of the cookies off the plate that Momo had brought in and snapped it in half. Ikkaku sat back in his seat, head lolling as he fought off sleep. 

Renji tapped his fingers against his thigh, and repressed a yawn. He wondered, not for the first time, if this was really what he had worked so hard to achieve. All of that training, that blood, sweat and tears, to sit in a conference room for an hour. What a great honor. What mighty responsibility weighed upon these shoulders.

He just hoped that Byakuya and the other captains were having just as much fun. (Who was Renji kidding? He knew they were having an even more miserable time. Good.)

“Abarai-san?”

“Hm?” Renji’s eyes flicked up, turning to see Nanao leaning over him with the usual enormous tome of documents weighing down her arms. 

The first division lieutenant brushed her bangs out of her face, and looked down at the list of the parchment that nestled in her elbow. Numbers reflected off of the wide lenses of her spectacles, more engrossed with the calculations and equations than with talking to Renji for certain.

“The interdivisional recruitment seminar is coming up next month, and we need more people on the planning committee. Can you come to the meeting next week, and perhaps draft some key points to deliver to trainees who have listed the Sixth Division as their top choice for enrollment?” 

Renji could not imagine something he would like to do less. He tried to muster some fake enthusiasm, but it probably appeared more like a grimace. “Yeah, sure.”

Nanao must have somehow peered through his incredible performance, because she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose with a small sniff of disappointment. She turned away to go hector Akon about why he had yet to turn in the Twelfth’s expenses report, and all the facade dripped off of Renji’s face. Well, just great. That was another thing he had to take care of during one of the two days off he had for the entire week. 

Renji turned back to staring blankly at the wall, eyes threatening to glaze over, until he caught a flash of spiky black hair and a glint of shiny metal. 

Shuuhei’s back faced Renji, his rounded shoulders unusually relaxed. His hair was getting longer, hanging shaggy around his ears and down his neck. Renji couldn’t see his face, but Shuuhei’s deep, calm voice permeated the room, even when he spoke quietly. 

“It may seem complicated at first, but as you become more experienced and develop your own routine it will become second-nature to you.” Shuuhei said to Kiyone, the newest addition to the rank of lieutenant. The petite woman was looking at Shuuhei with huge calf eyes, absolutely lost in admiration. 

“Don’t be afraid to ask the rest of us for help. Trust me, it can be tempting to try and handle everything by yourself, but you’re better off using every resource that you can.” 

“Thanks, Hisagi-fukataichou! I needed to hear that.” Kiyone blushed and brushed a strand of her short, coppery hair behind her ear. 

Renji’s lips turned up in a smile, and he tried to cover it with his palm. Typical, just like how Shuuhei couldn’t resist doting on his kouhai in school, he was still doing the same shit now. 

No, it wasn’t just that. Shuuhei had changed a lot recently, in the best kind of way. Renji was so used to seeing an frustrated, exhausted Shuuhei. A man riddled with anxiety, trying to press down on all his worries and doubts until it all came back up in a fiery explosion. Someone who let other people dump pressure on him, and who put pressure on himself. Who would hurt himself if it made other people happy. 

That wasn’t the person he saw anymore. Shuuhei was more confident, but also more relaxed. There was an easy, poised kind of slant to him now. A lightness in his posture and movements that bordered on graceful. Maybe it was the new bankai, or maybe it was the newfound dedication to uncovering all of Soul Society’s dark and seedy secrets, but it rejuvenated Shuuhei in a way no one had seen since his promotion to lieutenant. 

If Renji was completely honest, he was envious. The last time he had felt that brave and unrestrained, it had been right before getting cut in half by Aizen after narrowly missing Rukia’s would-be execution. He struggled to think of a point since then when he had felt so light.

Shuuhei turned, and he caught Renji staring at him out of the corner of his gray eyes. His eyes stayed as stoney as ever, but his mouth reflected Renji’s in a small, crooked smile. Renji’s heart stung with affection. 

It wasn’t long before the meeting reached its final stages of decomposition, everyone taking turns watching the clock and waiting for Nanao to give the final dismissal. When she finally realized she could contain the rowdy room of lieutenants no further, she sighed in defeat. 

“Everyone be sure to turn in your annual review by the end of the month.” She said by means of departure, and there was a symphony of squeaking chairs and scattered papers as everyone raced to get congested in the narrow doorway.

Usually Renji would be right up there, trying to squeeze his way to freedom and maybe an early lunch break with some of the others. 

Today, though, he didn’t mind lingering behind, waving to Izuru and Momo that he’d catch up with them later. He hovered by the door until everyone had filed out, and the only ones left were him and Shuuhei, who was still picking up his folders of rough drafts and ambitious ideas. He shuffled them in his arms, leaning the edges of the papers against his broad chest. 

“Forget something, Abarai?” Shuuhei didn’t look up, but his tone was cordial. Not scolding Renji for loitering around like he might have before. 

“Nope. Waiting for you.” 

“That’s kind of you.” 

Renji set his hands on the back of a vacant chair and leaned his weight against it. Waiting for Shuuhei to look up at him, to reward Renji with some attention. He waited, toothy grin locked and loaded, for Shuuhei’s acknowledgement. 

“Speaking of which, I saw you fussin’ over Kotetsu the Younger, earlier. That was nice of you to help her out. Just make sure you’re not being  _ too _ nice, or people will get the wrong idea.” 

Finally, Shuuhei met Renji’s eyes. His brows rose, a glint of amusement flashing. “Why? You jealous or something? I would have thought you didn’t need Hisagi-sempai to take care of you anymore.” 

Renji scoffed, and aimed a dramatic roll of the eyes up to the ceiling. “Yeah, sure. Just remember, this is how you end up with everyone dumping their problems on you.”

“Don’t worry about me. Besides, I don’t know if you’re really in any position to lecture people about being ‘too nice’.” 

This stuck out to Renji strangely. He cocked his head, trying to puzzle out where Shuuhei could possibly have come to this conclusion. 

Shuuhei stepped in close, and lowered his tone to a conspiratorial quiet. “Oh, come on. Like I didn’t just see Ise rope you into an extra chore back there. Unless you’re actually excited to tell baby-faced graduates about how awesome it is in the Sixth and how great your captain is, ad nauseum. It’s the same way you’re always hovering around those human kids, trying to keep them out of trouble.”

“That’s totally different.” Renji frowned. “Besides, if my goal was to keep them out of trouble, I definitely haven’t been successful even a little bit.”

“It’s the intention.” Shuuhei tapped his finger against Renji’s broad chest, the smell of aftershave and ink rolling off of him. “Face it, Renji; you act tough, but when it comes down to it you’re an even bigger push-over than me.” 

His restraint snapped, Renji’s hand went to grab Shuuhei’s wrist. His fingers wrapped around Shuuhei’s warm skin, excited to finally breach closeness. 

He pulled Shuuhei closer to him, chest-to-chest and eye-to-eye, until he could see every detail in the lines of Shuuhei’s three distinctive scars. Until he could identify the subtle, masculine scent of that aftershave. It was pine. 

“Maybe I should remind you just how stubborn I can be.”

“Maybe you should. I tend to forget.” 

But Shuuhei didn’t back down. He never did. He pushed back, closing in, and Renji didn’t realize how closely he had been standing to the wall until he felt it press against his back. 

_Oh shit_.

“Is this what this is, then? You trying to prove that you don’t care what anyone else thinks by pressing yourself up against me in an empty office? That’s pretty weak by your standards.” One of Shuuhei’s hands splayed his fingers out against the wall, leaning against it, while the other rested on Renji’s hip. The shape of a knee moved underneath the thick cover of Shuuhei’s hakama, pressing between Renji’s thighs. 

And there it was. The same Shuuhei that had always been there, dark and intense. The Shuuhei who could be very, very sweet and very, very mean at the exact same time. 

“If you really don’t care what everyone thinks, maybe you should show them. Maybe we should go to your captain’s office and show him right now. What do you think about that?”

Renji inhaled and held that breath inside his chest. He wanted more touch than Shuuhei’s hand on his hip and his knee against legs. He hadn’t realized how badly he wanted it until now, like a weight he had been carrying that suddenly slipped off of his wrist.

He really wanted to put that weight down.

“The captain’s meeting won’t end for another hour.” Was all Renji could reply with. “His office is empty right now. And unlocked.” 

Shuuhei’s eyes looked nearly black, a smokey kind of hue that absorbed light and squeezed it. He was brimming with cleverness, scanning Renji and picking him apart in his mind. Dissecting him cell by cell. 

The hand and the knee suddenly pulled away. The warmth of Shuuhei’s body vanished, and Renji almost gasped as he felt that weight suddenly drop back onto his chest so fast it could have crushed his ribs like a cardboard box.

“Nah. But if you want, you can come over tonight. And you can show only me.”

“Shuu--” Renji tried to protest, but Shuuhei cut him off firmly.

“Trust me. It’ll be better this way, and also a much lower chance of you getting fired. Or court-marshalled. Tonight.” He repeated, right before his face suddenly flattened back to seriousness. “After work. I still have to finalize the outline for the paper, and I believe you owe the interdivisional recruitment seminar some talking points. That’s not going to write itself.”

Renji groaned and attempted to sink into the wall paneling, watching Shuuhei walk away with purpose in his march. Shuuhei was so frustrating when he was in a good mood.

And he really was more stubborn than Renji was.

* * *

  
  


The truth was that yes, Renji might be a bit of a push-over. Or maybe it would have been more accurate to say he was repressed. You wouldn’t think this would be possible, considering the attitude and the tattoos and the generally everything about Renji. If you made the assumption that the number of tattoos you had somehow equaled your level of self-actualization. 

But wasn’t that a performance in it’s own way? Nobody cared who Renji was until he was a black thunderbolt tattoo, a flash of wild red ponytail. Then they noticed him, sticking out of the line-up of Seireitei-bred foot soldiers like a big, red sore thumb. 

It was fun to be seen. To be gawked at, feared, and even hated. Anything was better than being ignored. It worked. Until it didn’t. 

That was what Renji finally learned. No matter what he did, who he was, they would  _ always _ find a way to move the goalposts. If he was too crass, or too soft, or too rude, or too obedient, or too rebellious. There would always be something he was too much of. And it was a full-time job trying to keep everyone happy. 

Renji’s duty was to protect Soul Society. To serve his captain and his division. To protect his friends. When did he get to do something that’s just for himself?

The inside of Shuuhei’s room was dark, a single lantern throwing soft light against the walls and stretching out over the floors. Renji could see a corner of the window from where he lay, a smattering of silver stars set into a black tar void. Pinpricks of light poked against the other side of the universe.

Frost painted the pane of the window and threatened to raise gooseflesh up Renji’s arms, but he didn’t feel cold. In fact he felt warm, a heat blossoming in his face and glowing down his neck into his chest. His blood singed him from inside his skin.

“Are you ready?”

Shuuhei’s hand gently pushed the curtains of Renji’s hair off of his shoulders. His fingers combed through red strands before laying flatly on the square of Renji’s back, right between the black cage of stripes that stretched across his ribs. 

His hands were not soft. They were calloused, rough from years handling a sword. Renji knew every scar and blemish on Shuuhei’s body, starting from the three scars stretching down his brow to his throat from the day they met, all the way to the small cut on the back of his leg that he got during a mission accident last year. 

Renji had too many scars to count. Small ones that faded, but never fully healed. Sometimes it felt like he had more scars than skin.

Shuuhei’s thighs were warm underneath Renji’s body, propping him up as he lay stretched out across his lap. The feeling of exposure, of vulnerability, felt exceptionally raw. He was completely bared to Shuuhei, and that made him want to throw every blanket he could find over himself and curl up into a ball. 

But Shuuhei’s voice, his touch, was a promise. An exciting guarantee. An ‘I will protect you’. 

Renji nodded slightly, the curtain of hair that hung around his face shaking with his motions. 

“Green light.” 

“Okay.”

The strike didn’t come right away. It hovered in the air, the shadow of Shuuhei’s arm waiting for a moment before swinging down and landing with the loud snap of skin hitting skin. 

The shock of the impact lit up Renji’s skin, leaving behind a red, stinging heat that blossomed over the wide, soft swell of his ass. The sudden force made Renji’s hips jolt, grinding his crotch against the fabric that covered Shuuhei’s thigh.

Renji gasped, more out of surprise than from the pain. There was an instant flush of humiliation mixed in with a sharp stab of pleasure. 

The second spank landed on Renji’s other cheek, matching the mark on the opposite side. Another ringing slap of hand hitting skin, another red-hot sting. He could feel his skin burn, turning from tan to pink. 

“Fuck!” Renji hissed, air escaping through his teeth. He felt heat blossom in his face as hotly and strongly as it did on the welts rising on his cheeks. His spine arched, bracing for the next impact. 

The next several strikes came quick, spreading the sting evenly across his flesh. Shuuhei knew exactly where to hit, landing on the thickest, roundest part of his bottom, only occasionally slapping the back of the thighs. The pain wasn’t the point, it was just a side-effect, so there was no need for Shuuhei to focus on what would hurt the most. Just on what would heighten the experience.

“You’re holding back.” Shuuhei’s voice was soft in Renji’s ear, glaringly opposite to his stern, swift hand. “Relax. Don’t think.”

This, of course, was easy for Shuuhei to say. Renji thought he  _ was  _ relaxing, but realized there was a knot of tension between his shoulders. He couldn’t let go of it. 

He was so hyper-aware of his body. It was as if he was looking down from ceiling, seeing himself bent over Shuuhei’s knee and taking each spank obediently. Enduring the degradation, lending Shuuhei absolute power over his mind and body. 

That was it-- the loss of control. Renji had no power in this situation. He was weak and helpless. But Shuuhei wanted him anyway. Desired him. Loved him. That weight pressing down on Renji earlier in the meeting room was discarded in the corner, somewhere among the rumpled piles of Renji’s clothes. 

Shuuhei delivered another slap squarely on the middle of Renji’s ass, a burst of pleasure burning it’s way to his groin. The cotton of Shuuhei’s hakama rubbed against Renji’s crotch, rubbing him to the beginning of hardness. His legs folded inwards, toes curling in pleasure. A moan crawled up Renji’s throat and threw itself into the air. 

“Good. Much better.” 

Shuuhei’s hand slipped up the mountain ridge of Renji’s spine, fingers crawling up his neck. He took a generous handful of bright red locks and tangled it around his fingers. His grasp turned tight and he pulled harshly, yanking Renji’s head back. 

“God!” Renji’s spine bent, throat bared and a yelp leaving his lips. “You’re fucking bossy.” 

“You love it.”

Renji could hear the smirk on Shuuhei’s lips. The surge of power he got from ordering Renji around, from having total, perfect control. The same surge of freedom that Renji got with every slap, every sigh of pain and pleasure that Shuuhei reached in and yanked out of his lungs. 

“I want you to enjoy yourself. I love taking care of you.” Shuuhei said. One hand cupped Renji’s ass, gently squeezing the bottom of his stinging cheek. “But don’t you think you should show me some appreciation? Am I taking good care of you?”

He was. This stinging pleasure-- Renji wasn’t done with it. And he knew Shuuhei wasn’t done, either. Renji’s heart pounded in his chest, drumming with anticipation. 

“Yes,” Renji panted, throat dry and chest heaving. “But I can take more. Give me another one.”

“I will. But you need to do something for me, too.”

Shuuhei pulled his hand back and delivered another slap. Renji could feel the marks on his ass darkening from pink to red. His hands gripped the bedsheets underneath him and pulled them in, knuckles white and another moan rising from his arched throat. 

“Please say ‘thank you’, Renji.” 

Fuck.  _ Fuck! _

Another smack. The sound was ear-splitting. His skin was raw, stinging against the cool, fresh air. 

“I’m waiting.”

Renji’s breath was hot, it roared in his ears. It seemed to take effort just to keep breathing, his head was swimming while a hot blush burned across his face and down his neck. 

It would be demeaning enough if Shuuhei had him count out each strike, or even made him beg for more. But it was different to have Renji thank Shuuhei for spanking him repeatedly. 

He was the absolute center of Shuuhei’s attention. And it was humiliating, yes, but wasn’t it also fucking  _ hot  _ to be spread out and spanked raw, to have Shuuhei order him around and want to drive him wild? There was no one else Renji would let see him this way, a secret to be guarded. Nobody else got to have this from him.

Renji’s voice felt heavy when he finally responded. It was rough with the effort of admitting surrender. 

“... Thank you.” 

“Thank you,  _ what? _ ”

“Thank you,  _ sir.”  _ Renji practically spat. “Is that better,  _ sir _ ?”

“Close.” Shuuhei said. His voice became contemplative, thoughtful. “May I ask you something?” 

“Oh, do go on.” Renji sighed. Even though it brought the momentum to a grinding halt, he had to admit he was amused by how quickly Shuuhei got distracted. Truly, someone who only ever went by his own pace. 

“How many guys have you been with before?”

Renji paused. He wasn’t embarrassed, but surprised. And a little suspicious where this line of questioning was going to go under his specific set of circumstances. 

“An amount.”

He could practically hear the clever, smug grin pulling at Shuuhei’s lips. Something that he would never show in public, breaking that calm, smooth facade he always wore. He would never intentionally do anything to look cruel or to appear smug over someone else. Anything that peeled back the veneer of responsible and thoughtful, that came from something deeper inside. 

“... Did you ever call any of them ‘Daddy’?”

A groan was wretched out of Renji’s mouth, bowing his head down. “That’s vile.”

“I’m sorry. I thought that you wanted a little more. Something more intense.” 

Shuuhei adjusted his thigh, rutting it up against Renji’s cock. Instinctively, Renji’s hips flexed, bouncing his reddened ass against the air and his crotch down against the cotton, but Shuuhei’s hand pressed down on his hips to pin him in place. He squirmed, trying to get more friction, but Shuuhei wouldn’t give in. 

“Just say the word, Renji,” One of Shuuhei’s hands reached underneath Renji, finding his hard length and wrapping his fingers around it. A gentle squeeze tightened slightly. He was so close to the finish, he could feel a wet spot on Shuuhei’s thighs where he had started to leak. “One word, and I’ll give you everything you need.”

Renji’s entire body felt like it was on fire, an urgent hardness at his front and a hot stinging on his backside. He couldn’t hold in how badly he wanted to keep going, not just to finish but to feel every second leading up to that point. But his need was at war with the shame that lodged itself in his brain like a railway spike. 

Monitoring himself all the time was exhausting. Making sure he never looked stupid and weak. Did Shuuhei think he looked beautiful, spread out on his lap like this and wanting him so badly? Was Renji worthy of being desired?

_ Relax. _

_ Don’t think. _

_ Don’t worry about anything. Just focus on what _ **_you_ ** _ want. _

If Renji focused on his own mind, his own pleasure, then he could believe that he looked beautiful. That he could have anything at all that he wanted. 

He wanted Shuuhei to keep touching him. 

“... Please,” Renji’s breath was so hot and loud. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. “...Daddy.”

A shudder rolled through Renji involuntarily. Those words coming out of his mouth, they sounded as if they belonged to someone else but it was undeniably his own voice. His mouth saying those words, his own desperation. 

“Very, very good.” Shuuhei pet Renji’s hair tenderly. “Do you want to come now?” 

“Not yet.” Renji leaned his weight backwards, pressing his backside out to the air. “Spank me again, Daddy.” 

That same tone again, the secret, vicious smile that no one got to see, but Renji got to hear. 

“As you wish. Just remember the rules.”

Shuuhei pulled his arm back, and without a moment of deliberation delivered a fresh slap on the sore center of Renji’s ass. Another loud slap ringing through the room. 

“Thank you, Daddy...” 

A second one on the right cheek, squarely over the black line of the tattoo that hugged Renji’s hip. 

“ _ Ah-- _ T-thank you, Daddy…”

A third and final on the left cheek. Hard and fast, to complete the symmetry.

“Yes! God, Daddy, give me more, please!” Renji begged, and pushed his hips down. And fuck, he had never imagined that begging could actually  _ feel  _ good. The sound of his own voice in such a needy tone, it sounded so wanton and desperate. “Oh, fuck! C’mon, Shuuhei, touch me!”

No further invitation was needed, Shuuhei wrapped his arm underneath Renji’s waist and turned him onto his side. One arm held Renji around his shoulders, holding him close. The other was free to reach Renji’s arousal. Renji was already so hard that his skin tingled where Shuuhei’s hand held him. 

Renji swore again, his arms looping around Shuuhei’s neck for something, anything, to hold onto. His fingers dug into the solid shape of Shuuhei’s back, nails biting into flesh. Shuuhei’s hand pumped up and down the length of Renji’s dick, his face buried in Renji’s hair. 

Shuuhei grunted in pain as Renji’s nails dragged down his shoulders. He pulled Renji up to him, and Renji dove into a fierce, and desperate kiss as he finished in Shuuhei’s hand. 

Renji couldn’t say how long he was lost in the blinding white light of his climax. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours. It probably wasn’t hours, that would have been a really fucking long time. His limited focus could calculate that much.

Shuuhei knew to be patient. To hold Renji, petting his hair tenderly until Renji’s breathing slowed from heavy, heaving gasps to a slower, calming pace. Until his eyes could concentrate on the soothing rhythm of Shuuhei’s touches, on the sight of his lips still wet and raw from being kissed hard. 

“Shuuhei…” 

He nodded. “Is it okay if I move you?” 

Some of that ingrained shame tried to slither back into Renji’s brain. Being manhandled consensually was one thing, but Shuuhei shifting him around like a doll because Renji was too tired and weak was different. But he was also too tired to care too deeply, and he really wanted some aftercare. The pain that had just been uncomfortable earlier was beginning to become genuinely agonizing. 

“Yeah.” 

One arm still supporting Renji’s back and the other looped around his thighs, Shuuhei carefully helped Renji roll over so he could lie on the bed on his stomach. The bedsheets were cold and refreshing against Renji’s hot skin, a gasp was drawn out of him as he pressed his cheek against the cool fabric. 

There was some soft rustling as Shuuhei got up and rummaged for the aftercare kit. With nothing else to do but lie there, the adrenaline began to drain out of Renji’s body, leaving behind exhaustion and a growing seed of doubt. 

What if Shuuhei changed his mind? What if he was embarrassed by Renji,  _ pitied _ him?

_ He’s going to leave you, _ a wry, terrible little voice nagged Renji from the back of his skull,  _ He’s going to tell everyone how pathetic and desperate you were. Everyone is going to laugh at you-- _

The mattress shifted slightly as Shuuhei sat down on it, and there was a plastic ‘snap’ as his hands opened a bottle. Renji flinched as cool lotion was pressed onto his raw, abused skin. 

Shuuhei stopped moving, pulling his hands back slightly. “You’re okay…” His voice was soft. “Do you want me to talk, or should we be quiet for a while?”

Renji swallowed, and willed the nerves inside his gut to relax. He trusted Shuuhei. Knew that Shuuhei would take care of him. He wasn’t afraid. 

“You can talk.” 

“Alright. I’m going to finish putting the lotion on you.”

Shuuhei’s hands gently pressed the lotion into Renji’s skin, the cool and scentless lotion immediately lifting the stinging discomfort. Relief flooded Renji’s body, releasing a sigh from deep in his lungs. 

Shuuhei didn’t only rub the lotion into the red welts, but down Renji’s thighs and up the plane of his back. After he did so, he procured a clean towel and dabbed the sweat off of Renji’s forehead, Shuuhei lifting Renji’s long hair off the back of his neck to drag the towel over the back of his neck. 

“Can I get you anything else?” Shuuhei asked, “I can get you some water.” 

“No, just…”

Renji stretched out his arm, hand laying on empty space on the bed next to him. An invitation, and a request. 

“Stay here with me for a while.”

Shuuhei cocked his head, gray eyes lit with surprise. He sat down obediently next to Renji, before lying down beside him. His eyes lay on Renji’s face, flooded with affection. “Of course. You don’t need to ask for that.”

“But I am.”

“Then I will.” 

* * *

At the committee meeting, nobody asked Renji why he wasn’t sitting at the table. They did stare at him, eyes flicking to where Renji kept standing over his chair, leaning over it, silently asking what his deal was. 

Renji didn’t mind, honestly. He could deal with some curiosity, it didn’t mean he had to acknowledge any of it. 

He could deal without some of the brutal soreness. God, he really needed an icepack. At least it was better than sitting at his desk in the Sixth Division’s office. 

Nanao finally dismissed the committee, and there was a great squeak of everyone else’s chairs moving back as everyone got to their feet. Renji straightened up, feeling a faint twinge of stiffness shoot up his spine and shaking out the sleepy static in his foot. 

Of course, Shuuhei was the last to leave. Waiting for Renji on his way out.

“Hey--” 

Shuuhei didn’t even finish getting the first word out before Renji leaned in and stole a kiss. He didn’t even think about if anyone else was around to see.

  
  



End file.
